Worksheet 1. Taking Control of your financial life My current net worth By <insert day> <insert month> of <insert year> I will have increased my net worth by $ I will do this by: 1. 2. 3. My 90 Day Wealth Funnel Setting mini targets is a great way to stay on track, use the following wealth funnel to set monthly milestone targets as you move closer and closer to your quarterly goal. You can colour the segments in as you get closer. Have this funnel stuck up somewhere where you will see it often and that will remind you to keep on track. 30 Day Goal 60 DAY GOAL 90 DAY GOAL
Work sheet 2. Understand where your money is going. Exercise 1. What is your current money map: Map out on a step by step basis where your money is currently going in your life and in what order. Here are the typical areas money flows into in most people s lives - but feel free to adapt to what is relevant to you and be completely honest. Honesty is the first step towards change for the better. Bills (electricity, credit cards, phones, internet etc.) Living Expenses (Rent, mortgage, food etc.) Entertainment Stuff (things we buy) Savings for investing Savings to buy things or savings for holidays Expenses to cover current investments For example, your money flow might look like this: Income Tax Bills Super Morgage Food Car loan School fees Discretionary (cafes etc) Savings
Now please draw out your own money flow Exercise 2. Your future money map Now draw your new money map. A money map that represents that building wealth and financial freedom is a priority to you in your life. Again include all of the areas which are relevant to you in your life, but as you map these out consistently ask yourself what would someone who valued financial freedom in their life do first with the money in their life and then next and then next after that. Hint: pay yourself first!
Exercise 3. Now it s time make a plan for your money and get clear on where your money is going and to set a budget in your life Click on the link or go to the address below to download a budget worksheet www.thriveproperty.com.au/budgetplanner Then complete it in as much detail as possible and then answer the following questions: 1. Where are you currently using your money effectively? 2. Where are you currently leaking money in your life? 3. How much income that you earn and receive cannot be accounted for in your budget? 4. What areas can you identify that you can get working for you harder?
Worksheet 3. Staying on top of your finances with a weekly money night. So far you have created a new money map and budget for your life. Now is the time to create a system which allows you to effectively and consistently implement these changes into your life. Once again, this is all about installing new financial habits into your life. The habits of someone who values financial freedom. The most effective way to do this that I have found in my own life and what I have taught many students I ve worked with has been to schedule a money night on a weekly or fortnightly basis. So what is a money night? Simply it is time you set aside to manage your personal financial business where you are reviewing your financial performance over the period between each money nightreviewing what is working, what is not working and consistently managing the flow of money around your life based on your plan you have created. You can begin by scheduling 1 hour once per week initially to do this, perhaps with an initial 2-hour session to begin setting it all up and then follow that path for a period of 2-3 months at which time you make the decision if you want to continue on a weekly or if you feel you can drop back to a fortnightly timeslot. Here is what happens on a money night: 1. Review your current financial position, current investments and your budget 2. Review what happened financially in your life over the past week, including what income came in and what expenses went out and to where? 3. Identify what went according to plan and where you saved and where you may have overspent? If you spent less than what you budgeted for, what are you going to do with that extra funds? If you spent more, why? And how might you make up for it, if you feel you should? 4. What is happening in the week coming up? 5. What income are you expecting to come in? 6. What expenses are going out and to where? 7. If you have bills that are due and payable, then schedule these so that they go out and are paid on or before the due date
8. If you have income coming in, then automate via direct transfers where that income is going? (savings, investments, bills, living, entertainment etc.) 9. Identify 1-2 areas where you will focus on improving for the current week ahead 10. If you have time left over, don t waste it and research and learn something new in a financial area so you are always increasing your own financial intelligence. This might be reading a chapter of a book or watching a you tube video or finding some interesting articles or listening to a podcast. Using Technology There are some great technologies and systems out there which make this process easy and efficient. Here are some tools that I strongly recommend checking out: 4. Pocketsmith or ANZ Money Manager Both of these tools allow you to link your bank accounts into their system and easily track your incoming and outgoing money - and your trends of spending, investing and savings. You can also track your growing net worth and debt levels. Pocketsmith is a monthly subscription but has more features and tools, whereas ANZ money manager is a free service. I use Pocketsmith personally. 2. Receipt Bank In the past my filing system for receipts was a shoe box and tax time was a nightmare for both me and my accountant. Receipt bank is an app which allows you to take a photo of any receipt and store it online. You can then categorise it and systemise it for the future. I use this extensively and it also links to various book keeping systems to make tax time a breeze. I snap a photo of my receipts and throw them away knowing that they are storied online and link to my book keeping software. 3. Xero by far the best cloud based book keeping software on the market. I use it to run my businesses and investments. 4. Spense A great way to manage your budget on your mobile phone. You can quickly and easily input anything you spend into an app on your phone. You can then see instantly whether or not you are on track in your spending. Plus, you can set a joint account, so both you and your partners spending is updated onto the one account. This is great accountability!